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The story
Lotus origins
Colin Chapman's Lotus Cars launched the Series 1 Lotus Seven in 1957. The car was immediately embraced by enthusiasts as a low-cost, lightweight sports car and successful race car. Revised Series 2, Series 3 and Series 4 versions were subsequently launched in 1960, 1968 and 1970 respectively.
Caterham Cars had been a major Lotus 7 dealer during the 1960s, and its founder, Graham Nearn, purchased the rights to continue manufacture of the Seven design from Chapman in 1973, after Lotus announced its intention to discontinue the model. Caterham initially restarted manufacture of the Lotus Seven Series 4; however, when this proved unpopular, production switched to a Series 3 model in 1974.
In 1974, under the name of Seven Cars Limited, Caterham built 20 production cars with chassis numbers 1 to 20 and one prototype, with chassis number 0 (CS3 3550 – CS3 3570).
Of the 21 cars produced in the first year, all were fitted with the Ford-Lotus Twin Cam 1557 cc engine, with the exception of chassis number 7 which, intended for racing, was fitted with a 1962 cc twin cam engine sourced from Alfa Romeo. In 1977 it was announced that Caterham Cars had taken over the rights to build and develop the Twin Cam engine. Caterham also had the big-valve version (with twin Dell'Orto carburettors) emissions tested and obtained a certificate of compliance. In the end, Caterham had engine tuners Vegantune build the engines, using reconditioned twin cam heads, to supply the very important Japanese market. Caterham also had Vegantune develop a version of the Twin Cam using Ford's 1598-cc block (rather than basing it on the earlier 1498 cc unit) with their own, improved DOHC cylinder head. Called the VTA, this variant launched in 1983. Supplied to Caterham Cars as a replacement for the Twin Cam in the Caterham Seven, the VTA featured belt-driven cams. The engine used the later Crossflow block and displaced 1.6 or 1.7 litres. Power was 140 to 160 hp (104 to 119 kW). Around 40 units were supplied to Caterham but quality control was very uneven and Caterham eventually switched over to the Cosworth BDR or the single-cam 1700 Supersprint.
The Caterham 7, based on the Lotus Seven, is one of Caterham's flagship models. With 2007 marking the 50th year of continuous production, the Seven is still successful in clubman-style racing.
Graham Macdonald joined Caterham in 2007 and spent five years as Chief Financial Officer before becoming CEO in 2012. During that period, he steered the business through various changes and challenges before securing long-term security by overseeing the acquisition by VT Holdings.
Prior to that Caterham Cars has been run by an ex-Lotus management team led by Ansar Ali (CEO) and Mark Edwards (COO).
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In July 2022, Bob Laishley moved from his role of Chief Strategy Officer to CEO.
Bob has amassed over 40 years of experience in all aspects of vehicle design, innovation, engineering, sourcing and project management. Culminating with six years as Program Director for NISMO road cars and sports models, including the Nissan 370z and GT-R.
In 2021, Caterham appointed a new agency of record, Rika to be their global partner for customer strategy, marketing & media, supporting initiatives including a brand-wide CRM rollout and the development of Caterham’s digital estate.
Construction
As with its Lotus Seven precursors, Caterhams are constructed of aluminium sheet attached to a tubular steel chassis. Nose cone and wings are either GRP or carbon fibre depending on specification. All Sevens are front-engined with rear-wheel drive and two seats. Their extremely high performance is achieved through light weight (less than 500 kg (1,102 lb) on some versions) rather than particularly powerful engines. As well as a lightweight chassis and bodywork, Caterham Sevens achieve their very low mass through their lack of comfort and safety oriented features such as a fixed roof, doors, radio, air-conditioning, airbags, traction/stability control, ABS, satellite navigation or cruise control. As a result, the Seven is somewhat limited in its practicality for everyday usage and is instead recognised by driving enthusiasts for its focus on driving enjoyment, making it an ideal track/race car or 'Sunday' car.
Kit format
Chapman and Lotus helped to pioneer the British kit car industry. The Lotus Seven was offered in kit form to allow buyers to avoid new car tax in the UK. Subsequently, Caterham continued offering cars in 'complete knock down' (CKD) kit form as the tradition of hand building your own Seven was well established amongst enthusiasts. Today, all Caterham Sevens are still offered in kit form in the UK except the CSR (Series 6) model. Modern Caterham kits differ from the majority of kit cars as all parts are supplied ready to assemble, not requiring a donor car, fabrication or any special skills.
International
Although the Seven has always been popular with enthusiasts outside of the UK marketplace, export of the Seven to other markets has increasingly been limited by homologation, safety and emissions regulations in the modern era. As a result, the chassis/engine combinations, specifications, pricing and kit-form availability vary widely between countries.
In the past in the United States Caterhams were sold as kits only, lacking some modern safety features required of manufacturers, but which are not required for individually assembled vehicles. Buyers could either choose to construct the cars themselves or pay their regional dealers or local builders to assemble them. Typically the engine and transmission are sourced separately as a unit – often from Caterham – but all other components (including frame, suspension, differential, driveshaft, interior, wiring and instruments) were provided in kit form.
In the UK, the vehicles can be obtained as kits or entirely assembled by Caterham and registered for the road under IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) regulations. In the '60s, the original Lotus Seven was sold only in kit form in both the UK and the US, in order to evade the very high taxes on complete new cars that were not assessed on automobile parts.
United States
As of 2014, however, Caterham has named Superformance their official distributor in the United States. International demand has increased dramatically in part due to the addition of a F1 Race team and the changes in Caterham's structure focusing on the distribution of the Seven worldwide. Caterham has since introduced a new model line up and focused on their production and production times to better suit their new international market, making their partnership with Superformance possible. Sevens will be shipped to the US in part-built form and sold as rolling chassis via Superformance's nationwide dealer network for customers to then complete the build personally or through the Superformance dealership. The initial US line-up includes several Caterham Sevens: 280, 360, 480, and the 620R.
Location
Until 1987 the offices, factory and showroom of Caterham Cars were located in the town of Caterham, Surrey.
In 1987, the production and administration of the company moved to a new factory in Dartford, Kent.
Caterham Cars retained a Caterham South showroom and servicing facility in the town of Caterham adjacent to the railway station until February 2013. The Caterham dealership closed after the premises were sold for development and the showroom relocated to temporary facilities in Crawley. Additionally the Caterham Midlands showroom operates outside Leicester.
In 2012 elements of Caterham Cars moved into a new facility in Leafield, Oxfordshire, where it is expected the new models of cars to be produced in the future will be developed and built. This new facility was formerly used by the Arrows F1 team and the Super Aguri F1 team. The Leafield site also accommodated the Caterham F1 team, which moved from its original base in Hingham, Norfolk and competed in Formula One between the 2012 and 2014 seasons.
In 2024 Caterham Cars moved production to a brand new facility, still in Dartford, Kent.
Caterham 21
In 1994 Caterham produced a model called the '21'. Mechanically the 21 was very similar to the 7, using a modified 7 spaceframe chassis with a new GRP roadster-style body, including a wrap-around windscreen and fold-away fabric hood (convertible top) manufactured by Oxted Trimming Company.
The 21 benefited from a considerably stiffer setup than a 7, due to the work on the chassis and having a full body. Comfort was introduced in the same minimalist style as the 7, adding just enough to make it a proper roadster without adding too much weight.
Caterham, however, underestimated the effort involved in creating a completely new car and took far too long from its inception to deliver the first customer cars, seeing many people who had placed deposits defect to the Lotus Elise and other vehicles. Early ones were used as "prototypes", leaving customers to help iron out some of the foibles of the new car.
The 21 never sold particularly well, with only 48 ever made. It had moderate racing success in the Belcar 24-hour series in Europe and is credited with helping Caterham develop the widetrack setup used in SVs (amongst other developments) and the CSR's sweeping interior is reminiscent of the original 21 design.
Caterham SP/300.R
The SP/300.R is a new track-only model designed by Caterham alongside Lola Cars. The SP/300.R is a limited edition with limited production to 25 per annum.
From Wikipedia’s article on Caterham Cars, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5